Learn to Knit Kit, New + Improved

Our new and improved Learn to Knit Kit makes your first foray into the world of knitting fun and fulfilling. With clear instructions, beautiful materials, and an inspiring project, we want you to start you off on the right foot. After all, this could be the start of a lifelong pursuit-slash-obsession!

Our at-home-knitting-school walks you through every lesson of basic knitting, from winding a skein into a ball to knitting your very first scarf. Learn all the basics with our step-by-step instructions, how-to photos, and corresponding video tutorials, then choose from three basic scarf patterns to put your new skills into action!

An update of our original Learn to Knit Kit, this one has improved instructions, photos, and tutorials. We also refreshed the palette with gorgeous new Super Soft Merino colors, including gentle Honey Pink and enigmatic Trout Brown.

Because knitting should always be inspiring, our Learn to Knit Kit is thoughtful, thorough, and totally beautiful. Pick one up and cast on!

Thanks for the question! Whether you hold your yarn in your right or left hand the working yarn is always coming from the right needle. The action of knitting and purling are the same and you’ll wrap your yarn counter clockwise as in the instructions. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Thank you so much for your kind words! If you would like to add a slip stitch on the edges of seed stitch, you will slip the first stitch purlwise with the yarn in back and count this as the first stitch. One the Seed stitch, this will be the knit stitch. You will slip the first stitch and then purl the second and continue on in pattern!

Hello Charlotte,
Thank you for reaching out! All of our tutorials are done using english style. I’m also a continental knitter and I have found that once I got used to watching videos in english style they were simple to translate into continental as you are ultimately achieving the same thing. However, if you are still feeling lost I have found that a quick google search should result in many continental instruction videos.
I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any further questions,
Happy knitting!
-Marilla

Thanks for writing in! All three patterns (stockinette, ribbed and seed stitch) come in this lovely pattern. You can purchase just the pattern instead of the whole kit with all three patterns included!

Hi there! I am almost finished with this lovely kit. I appreciate that you encourage new knitters to use nice yarn for their first project; I’ll actually wear this when I’m done!

I chose to do seed stitch. I’m having a problem with the yarn getting twisted between the ball and the needles. It seems to be more an issue with the second ball. I just rerolled the ball in hopes of fixing it because trying to get it out by just twisting the knitting wasn’t working. This problem makes the yarn look less fluffy. I’m not sure if I’m describing it well. Basically, imagine what would happen if you twisted some yarn in your fingers until it started to curl up on itself, and that’s what is happening to the yarn that is coming off my ball.

Is there something I am doing that could be causing this? The way I rolled the ball? The way I’m handling the knitting? I know you can’t see what I’m doing, but I would appreciate any insight. Thank you!

Hello Amelia,
Thank you for reaching out- I’m so happy to hear you are enjoying your project! I just want to clarify if there is a distinct deference between the two balls of yarn and did you wind them in deferent ways? My first thought is that the ball was wound to tightly which could cause it to have a less “fluffy” look to it. Does the end result look deferent as well?
I hope I can help!
-Marilla

When I was winding the second ball, the skein got really tangled somehow, so I had to spend some time carefully undoing all that. Otherwise, I don’t know of any differences, but as you know, I am a beginner!

The section knitted with the twisted yarn just seems less fuzzy and fluffy as the first part.

I have found that the twisting problem diminished once I started alternating what direction I turned the project once I reached the end of a row. Previously I had just been turning it the same way every time, which I think is how I put so much tension in the yarn, or at least one of the reasons.

Hello Amelia,
Thank you for the clarification! This sounds like because you were turning your work the same direction every row the working yarn was becoming over twisted between the ball and your needles. I’m happy to hear the yarn has re-gained its fluffy-ness!
-Marilla

My sister likes knitting and my mom is planning to give her a needle kit for her birthday. It was explained here that she may need a tapestry needle to finish the product. Furthermore, it’s recommended to go to trusted shops when considering having a needle kit.

Thanks for reaching out! Fortunately, our Learn to Knit Kit does include a tapestry needle, along with all the other high-quality supplies she will need to learn to knit. I think this would be a fantastic birthday gift!

I am a beginner knitter. I love the beginner scarf kit with soft Merino Wool yarn. I live in Sacramento, CA and the weather is mild to hot with short winters. Could I substitute the soft Merino Wool for something less heavy and not so warm? If so, what do you recommend?

Thanks for reaching out! Although we can’t substitute the yarn in the kit, all of the materials are available separately so you can build your own kit! For a warm weather scarf, I would suggest using Blue Sky Worsted Cotton on a US 10 needle. Since the yarn is a bit thinner, you will need to cast on 22 stitches for the Garter Stitch Scarf, 26 stitches for the Rib Stitch Scarf, or 21 stitches for the Seed Stitch Scarf. Other than that, you can follow all the other how-to instructions in our Learn To Knit Pattern to create a lovely cotton scarf!

Hello – I just finished the garter stitch scarf and love it – what soft and comfortable yarn! I did have a very frustrating issue and wonder what your thoughts are. I wound both skeins of yarn into balls using the center pull method. All went well with the first ball, but the yarn was very twisted coming out of the second ball. I actually had to cut the yarn several times because I was unable to untwist it sufficiently. I see below someone had an issue with twisted yarn and finally realized they were turning the project the same direction at the end of each row and the problem resolved once they alternated how they turned it……this does not seem to apply in my situation. Please advise! I very much want to avoid this problem on my next project. Many thanks.

Thanks for reaching out and I’m sorry to hear that you had some difficulties with the wound yarn! Since our Learn to Knit kit only includes instructions for a regular hand wound ball, I can’t say for sure what might have gone wrong. Personally, I always prefer to work from the outside of a ball because there is a smaller chance of tangles clumps of yarn showing up than there is when working from the center, but for future projects, you can always ask in the order notes for us to wind the yarn for you. We use a ball winder that creates a neat and tidy cake of yarn that is quite easy to pull from the center.

Purl Soho® and purlsoho.com and all images, contents and text on this website are the copyrights and property of Purl Soho. All rights reserved. Note: ALL projects and patterns featured on this website are for home use only and are not to be resold or made for sale to third parties. ® 2019 Purl Soho